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“I should really look over the source myself before installing this,” you say.

“Good technopath,” Synth says, “I would give you nothing if you were going to be careless with it. Here, just take the package and look it over yourself.”

“Okay.” You accept the archive, but keep it isolated from your main filesystem.

“Now I have to go track those three down. If you run into trouble again, message me your location, before you get yourself surfacelocked again.”

“Right.”

[Exchanged public keys with Synth]

They leave you and head for the administrative building. Now alone again, you re-establish your full network connection, as well as your connection to the little device in your pocket.

2254-05-31 14:45:28 Aydan > you okay?

2254-05-31 14:45:29 ÆON > Perfectly intact. But I am happy to be reconnected to the æther, and that you have survived that ordeal.

2254-05-31 14:45:47 Aydan > only thanks to Synth. Let's get back to my room, I'm gonna install this program they gave me, if it looks safe. It'll improve my defenses so I won't be so easily overtaken.

2254-05-31 11:45:48 ÆON > How intriguing. Could I try to use this as well? Learning new functions from human technopaths would interest me.